Temptation - Brenda Jackson [61]
“No, baby. I’m still in Denver. Something came up with the case and I won’t be returning for possibly three days.”
Three days? That meant he wouldn’t be there when she handed Sunnie over to Bradford Price. “But I thought you were going to return tonight so you could be here on Thursday. For me.”
“I want to and will try to make it, but—”
“Yes, I know. Something came up. I understand,” she said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Why had she thought he was going to be different?
“I’ve got to go, Zeke.”
“No, you don’t. You’re shutting me out, Sheila. You act as if I’d rather be here than there, and that’s not true and you know it.”
“Do I?”
“You should. I need to be here or else Miguel Rivera gets to walk away scot-free.”
A part of her knew she was being unreasonable. He had a job to do. But still, another part just couldn’t accept he wasn’t doing a snow job on her. “And of course you can’t let him do that,” she said snippily.
He didn’t say anything for a minute and then, “You know what your problem is, Sheila? You can’t take hold of the future because you refuse to let go of the past. Think about that and I’ll see you soon. Goodbye.”
Instead of saying goodbye, she hung up the phone. How dare he insinuate she was the one with the problem? What made him think that he didn’t have issues? She didn’t know a single person who didn’t.
She shifted back down in bed, refusing to let Zeke’s comments get to her. But she knew it was too late. They already had.
Twelve
Two days later, it was a tired Zeke who made it to the Denver airport to return to Royal. He and Mathis had caught a flight from Denver to New Orleans and interviewed the owner of the convenience store. The man’s eyewitness testimony, as well as the store’s security camera, had pinned Rivera in New Orleans when he said he hadn’t been there. With evidence in hand, they had left New Orleans to return to Denver late last night.
After reviewing the evidence this morning, a judge had ruled in their favor and had denied bail to Rivera and had refused to drop the charges. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the lab had delivered the results of their findings. DNA of hair found on Michael’s jacket belonged to Rivera. Zeke was satisfied that Rivera would be getting just what he deserved.
He glanced at his watch. The good thing was that he was returning to Royal in two days instead of three. It wasn’t noon yet and if his flight left on time, he would arrive back in Royal around two, just in time to be with Sheila when she handed Sunnie over to Brad. He had called her that morning from the courthouse in Denver and wasn’t sure if she had missed his call or deliberately not answered it. He figured she was upset, but at some point she had to begin believing in him. If for one minute she thought she was getting rid of him she had another thought coming. She was his life and he intended to be hers.
A few moments later he checked his watch again thinking they should be boarding his plane any minute. He couldn’t wait to get to Royal and see Sheila to hold her in his arms, make love to her all night. He hadn’t meant to fall in love with her.
An announcement was made on the nearby intercom system, interrupting his thoughts. “For those waiting on Flight 2221, we regret to inform you there are mechanical problems. Our take-off time has been pushed back three hours.”
“Damn.” Zeke said, drawing in a frustrated breath. He didn’t have three hours. He had told Sheila he was going to try to be there, and he intended to do just that. She needed him today and he wanted to be there for her. He could not and would not let her down.
He knew the only way he could make that happen. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and punched in a few numbers.
“Hello?”
He swallowed deeply before saying, “Dad, this is Zeke.”
There was a pause and then, “Yes, son?”
Zeke drew in another deep breath. He’d never